DALLAS – Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem booked his semifinal spot in Strikeforce’s ambitious heavyweight grand prix, but he did little to gain fan following in a rather lackluster unanimous-decision win over submission specialist Fabricio Werdum.

The frustrating cat-and-mouse affair saw Werdum literally begging his opponent to engage him on the floor, while Overeem was unable to land any real significant damage during brief exchanges on the feet.

The contest served as the featured main-card bout of Saturday’s Showtime-broadcast “Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum” event, which took place at Dallas’ American Airlines Center. The evening’s four-bout preliminary card aired on HDNet.

The opening round saw Overeem stalking early, as Werdum looked to get the fight to the floor. Werdum’s takedown attempts started in earnest, but with each successive Overeem sprawl, the efforts became more and more comical. Certainly, Werdum was keeping his best interests at heart, but as Overeem refused to engage on the floor, the Brazilian resorted to pleading with the Dutch striker to fight him on the mat – an invitation Overeem politely declined.

In the second, Werdum showed a brief sign of life with an early takedown, but he was unable to hold top position before Overeem scrambled back to his feet. At that point, things took a nasty turn.

As the second wore on, Overeem looked to tire and appeared rather stiff as he sought a finishing blow. Meanwhile, Werdum hit the deck at every available opportunity, whether legitimately driven there or not, and was extremely slow to rise to his feet each time Overeem backed away in favor of a standup fight. Werdum did seem to be the better striker at times, but the overall flow of the fight unquestionably favored Overeem

In the final frame, Werdum again opened with a salvo of punches and knees, but he quickly hit the deck and begged Overeem to follow. The two returned to their feet briefly at the halfway mark of the round, but it was only a short exchange. With the action stuck on the floor, the entire arena pleaded for referee Leon Roberts to “Stand them up!” He didn’t, though Overeem did finally break away and return to the feet.

Werdum latched on to a leg in a last-ditch effort to steal the fight, but it simply didn’t happen. Overeem remained comfortably on his back until the final bell, when both fighters were greeted with a chorus of boos. Werdum staked a claim to the final round, especially considering Overeem’s lack of activity on top, but the result appeared fairly certain. While often successful on the feet, Werdum did himself few favors by flopping to his back.

In the end, Overeem was granted a unanimous-decision win, 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27.

With the win, Overeem (35-11 MMA, 3-0 SF) is now unbeaten in his past 11 fights and will meet Antonio Silva in a grand prix semifinal bout later this year. Meanwhile, Werdum (14-5-1 MMA, 3-1 SF) sees a three-fight win streak snapped.
Barnett cruises, taps Rogers in second

In a classic battle of striker vs. grappler, catchwrestling enthusiast Josh Barnett made quick work of the heavy-handed Brett Rogers en route to booking a Strikeforce grand prix semifinal contest with Sergei Kharitonov.

Barnett took the action to the floor early in the opening round, avoiding any and all damage while intelligently passing on the striking game. To his credit, Rogers avoided any sincere submission attempts in the opening five minutes despite facing his opponent’s mount and side control, but that would quickly change in the second frame.

After Rogers landed a quick jab, Barnett again took the fight to the ground and quickly advanced to mount. From there, he nestled into an arm-triangle choke attempt that he cinched up with little resistance. Rogers held on as long as he could, but he was forced to tap just 77 seconds into the second round.

Barnett (30-5 MMA, 1-0 SF) has now earned seven-straight victories and will face Kharitonov later this year.

“Brett was a tough opponent,” Barnett said following the win. “I hope he’s around for a long time knocking people out. However, tonight was my night, and I’m here to win this tournament. After I win the whole thing I’m coming after the heavyweight championship.”

Rogers (11-3 MMA, 2-3 SF) has now dropped three-straight fights for the promotion, albeit against the world’s best heavyweights in Barnett, Overeem and Fedor Emelianenko.
Masvidal batters Noons, stakes claim for title shot

In a bout deemed an unofficial No. 1 contender fight in Strikeforce’s lightweight division, 155-pound fighters Jorge Masvidal and K.J. Noons combined for a thrilling contest, albeit one that featured rather one-sided action.

While Noons opened in typical brawling fashion, it was Masvidal that did the early damage. An early knee opened a cut on Noons’ hairline, and a successful takedown followed moments later. When Noons returned to his feet, a slick Masvidal high kick to the chin sent his opponent back to the floor. Masvidal pounced for the finish, but Noons worked to his feet and somehow made it to the second round.

In the second, Noons came out with a sense of urgency, and a taunting Masvidal found himself on the receiving end of a few stiff punches. But Noons’ cut began to bleed again early in the round, and Masvidal continued to pick apart his foe. A takedown led to a few Masvidal elbows on the ground, and a knee later in the round punctuated the performance as Noons’ face began to swell beyond recognition, complete with a Mark Hominick-esque hematoma.

So convincing was Masvidal’s performance through two rounds, he raised his arms in celebration at the close of the frame.

Despite the damage, Noons moved forward valiantly in the losing frame, scoring an early lead uppercut that caught his opponent’s attention. Masvidal cruised for much of the round, in clear control of the matchup, though he did take top position in the closing minutes and deliver a bit more damage. Noons tried for a miracle kimura in the final seconds, but it was not to be.

Masvidal turned in a masterful performance and likely booked a future date with Strikeforce champ Gilbert Melendez. At the close of the 15-minute contest, Masvidal was awarded the clear-cut win, 30-27 on all three cards.

“I’m a good counter-fighter,” Masvidal said. “I’m not going to attack until you come at me. A good wrestler like K.J. Noons is doing everything I need him to do in setting me up to do that. I did what I said I was going to do, and that was hit him in the face over and over a thousand times.

“I hope this win puts me in the mix for a title shot. If not, I’ll keep fighting until I get one.”

With the win, Masvidal (22-6 MMA, 4-0 SF) is now 5-1 in his past six contests. Noons (10-4 MMA, 2-2 SF) has now dropped two-straight fights, though he’s turned in gutsy performances in each of the contests.

Cormier outboxes Monson for impressive three-round win

One-time UFC title challenger Jeff Monson admitted prior to Saturday night that he would likely be unable to stop Daniel Cormier’s vaunted takedown attack. He also realized he was probably not going to be able to win if he was underneath his foe. What he either didn’t realize or didn’t admit was that he would also be completely outclassed on the feet.

Flashing an astoundingly improved striking attack, Cormier blasted Monson with a dizzying array of punches, kicks and knees that left his opponent out of sorts and in trouble from the opening round.

A two-time Olympic wrestler, Cormier looked more like a boxing specialist as he pressed forward with his punches. Monson weathered the storm, but he offered little in the way of return fire.

In the final frame, with his face swollen and his eye closing, Monson dove into a takedown attempt that wouldn’t come. Instead, he only hit the mat when tossed unceremoniously there by Cormier, who then refused to bother with the grappling game and instead simply retreated and waited for his foe to rise.

It was unquestionably the best performance of Cormier’s young career, dominating the action from start to finish, and the prospect was awarded a unanimous-decision victory, 30-27 on all three cards.

“I’m confident in my skills, but this now proves that I can fight top guys like Jeff,” Cormier said following the one-sided win. “I’m glad I was able to dominate him the way that I wanted to.

“I knew coming in that he was strong on the ground, so I trained hard with the best striking coaches around and got my boxing where I needed it. After this fight, I know I can hang with whoever they put in front of me.”

With the win, Cormier (8-0 MMA, 5-0 SF) remains undefeated and may soon find himself tangling with Strikeforce’s very best heavyweights. Meanwhile, Monson (42-12 MMA, 0-1 SF) sees an eight-fight win streak snapped in his promotional debut but may find new life should he complete a previously announced move to 205 pounds.

Griggs blasts Overeem in first

In the night’s first main-card bout, the unheralded Chad Griggs continued his unlikely rise up the Strikeforce ranks with a quick finish of longtime veteran Valentijn Overeem.

As the two felt each other out early, Overeem missed on a high kick that swopped over his opponent’s head. Griggs immediately moved into a clinch, where Overeem tried to stall with overhooks. Instead, Griggs dropped and landed a beautiful toss that saw him land directly into half-mount. The end was near.

Overeem rolled to his side for an apparent kimura attempt, but Griggs defended well and began to blast his foe with some 20-plus unanswered punches. Referee Kerry Hatley rushed in to halt the fight just as Overeem appeared to tap, but the fight was recorded as a TKO win for Griggs at the 2:08 mark if the opening round.

“This fight went exactly as I had planned it,” Griggs said after the win. “I threw some heavy bombs and got him down. When I got on top of him, I hit with some good hard shots that were getting in clean.

“He’s an extremely tough fighter, so I was surprised by how quickly he tapped, but I’ll take that win. They keep trying to make me disappear, but I’m not going away anytime soon.”

As the UFC 189 tour made its last stop in Dublin, featherweight champ Jose Aldo was met with a torrent of abuse from the Irish fans. It might have been unpleasant, but it might also have been just what he needed.